Pope says 'Church is female,' but no to female priests

Pope Francis

 VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis stressed the importance Wednesday of a female dimension in the Roman Catholic Church but ruled out the possibility of female priests, when asked on his way back from Sweden by a female journalist.

 After visiting Sweden to commemorate 500 years of Lutheran reform, the pope was asked by journalist Anna Cristina Kappelin, whether like in Sweden where a woman leads their Church, it may be possible to envisage female priests in the Catholic Church.

 The pontiff replied that “the last clear words on the matter were those given by St John Paul II, and they still currently stand.”

 “Women can do so many things better than men. In Catholic ecclesiology, there is the Petrine dimension -- that of the apostles -- and the Marian dimension, which is the female dimension of the Church.”

 “What’s more, the Church is a woman,” continued the pope, citing the fact that the noun ‘church’ is feminine in romance languages. “The Church weds Jesus Christ. The Church does not exist without this feminine dimension, because she herself is female.”

 Under Francis' pontificate women have been able to serve as deacons administering communion for the first time, which is seen by some observers as a first step toward women being priests.

 However, the pope did not mention it as a possibility when asked the question directly.

 nkd